The Goddess
by Hearts of Paper
Summary: As Madara makes the final preparations to secure his victory and enthral the world in an eternal illusion, a mysterious figure with all new and even more mysterious powers reappears and threatens to foil his plans.
1. The Return

The battleground was a wasteland. The thick clouds that engulfed the night sky seemed to circle around the bright full moon. Black pillars of smoke rose from deep fissures in the ground created in the wake of the war. Bodies of the dead and dying swarmed before the God-Tree that towered up beneath the moon. Having eradicated the Shinobi Alliance that rose against him, Madara Uchiha prepared to activate the Eternal Tsukuyomi. The army of the Shinobi Alliance and their five Kages has proven a decent warm up for him while he resurrected himself. Utilising the destructive power of the Ten-Tails and watching the further destruction was entertainment to him, especially when the previous Hokages were brought into the fray. He revelled in seeing them scurry about before his almighty power and was glad his nemesis, the first Hokage Hashirama Senju, made an appearance by means of Edo Tensei. Later into the battle, the Uchiha bore witness to a truly rare sight; the release of the eighth gate. The ninja that used it was some Konoha ninja, though Madara never cared to catch his name as he achieved nothing. Even the reincarnations of the Sage of Six Paths children only challenged him slightly. It was almost boring. Naruto Uzumaki, the reincarnation of Ashura, who boasted the chakra of the nine tailed beasts, clawed at the ground to drag himself forward as life left his body. The reincarnation of Indra, the famed last remaining Uchiha, Sasuke, seemed to have passed out or perhaps had already met his death. Having re-obtained his 'borrowed' eye from his former ally, though puppet was a more appropriate term for Obito Uchiha, nothing of value remained in this world except to execute his plan. He was content with the battle but only wished that it could have lasted longer, or that another worthy fighter would appear.

"Is that all this entire world has to offer?!" He spat in disgust to the bodies around him. "Not even the spirits of the Sage's children could overcome me! You are all nothing, worthy of only serving me for all eternity in a never-ending nightmare. I hold the power of Kaguya a million times over!"

The world was desolate, colourless and entirely silent. The Earth had been stained by darkened blood and the sky matched its bleakness, though something small and white passed his eyes in a split second. Initially slightly stunned, Madara turned to investigate yet found nothing. After a few seconds another white object darted past him yet he could not find it again. A second passed before the next one and before he was fully aware of what was going on, he was surrounded by a sea of swirling white. Through the gaps in the vortex he saw a figure manifest from the white. The white slowly turned black which seemed to blend in with the environment though the red clouds that patterned the cloak were unmistakable. Long, slender legs brought the figure forward until a face came into view. The piercing grey eyes of the girl met Madara's own eyes as she approached the tornado of paper. A light blue origami flower formed in the right of her blue hair as Madara smirked.

"Konan, of all the fodder that would remain I had never expected you to be here."

Upon finishing his sentence Madara realised the abnormality. The dead coming back was no strange occurrence yet who could have brought back a body that was lost at the depths of the ocean? Furthermore her skin remained flawless as though she were alive, and her eyes were not dark like the other reanimates. It made no difference to the invincible Uchiha though. She was merely another corpse. He knew she infused the paper with her chakra to control them. Such ninjutsu, in fact all ninjutsu for the matter, was rendered useless against the Preta path. He reached forward while laughing to stop the technique using the powers gained from his Rinnegan, though it was to no avail. Displaying no emotion, Konan closed her fist in front of Madara, resulting in the paper closing in around him. Glancing up he realised she had already closed off his escape with squares of paper that were falling. The paper tore into his flesh like tiny blades. Madara did not even grimace at the pain. The shards flew away as Konan opened her fist once more. Madara's powers of regeneration gained from Hashirama's cells immediately began to repair the gouges in his flesh. His smirk turned into a twisted grin as he prepared for battle once again.

"Whatever trick you used will fall short very soon. I just hope you can get my blood pumping until I tear you apart." His eyes grew wide as he leaned forward to scream and laugh. "Like paper."

"A million times the power of Kaguya you claim?" The paper that floated in the air separated into two groups behind Konan and slowly formed grand, beautiful wings as her grey eyes faded to pure white.


	2. A Glimpse of Power

The world revolved around the final two warriors. Everything else stood perfectly still but the atmosphere was tense, as if anticipating an earth-shattering battle. Madara noted the change in Konan's eyes, and the consequent change in her chakra. Lowering his stance he remembered the last time he had laid eyes on her. She was only a child when he transplanted his own horrifically powerful eyes into her friend. The innocence that once shone in the young girl had been replaced by a solid cold resolve. Such was the fate of children in a world of war. He ran his hand slowly up his neck and face, until he pulled back his eyelids with his middle and ring finger and smiled.

"Do you recognise these eyes? They were his eyes. Given to… no. He was blessed with them by me. His eyes, his power, his Akatsuki, his plans, even his death, everything he was is because of me!" Konan closed her eyes as the corners of her mouth twisted slightly. She began to rise through the air as paper fluttered all about her. The Uchiha had little care for any move she might make. He raised an open hand out to her. "He lives on in these eyes. In me. He died striving for the peace that I can and will create! Join me Konan and together we can create the world Nagato envisioned." Madara's voice grew sincere before he stopped for her response. The girl opened her eyes. A solitary tear fell down her left cheek.

"K-Konan…" She jerked her head around at the sound of the familiar voice. A young blonde lay face down in the dirt struggling to keep his eyes open. She barely recognised him now due to the physical changes in his appearance, and the immense power difference in his chakra though it still held a familiar warmth. He reached forward toward her with his right hand but could not hold it up for long as his right eye shut as well. "I thought when I saw an angel… I was…" His left eye joined his right in closing before they both wearily half opened again. "No… no. It's you. Please." His eyes shut once more and did not open, but Konan could detect a small flicker of chakra within his body, so Naruto was not dead. Yet. The angel turned back to Madara.

"Madara. You tamper with powers far beyond your comprehension and have been consumed by their darkness. I will not allow you to plummet further into the abyss, or have you drag this world with you! I beg of you, stop th-" Madara's erratic laughter cut Konan off. He doubled over in his hilarity which slightly irked her. Despite this, she patiently waited for him to calm down and consider her opportunity of mercy. Throwing his arms to each side he screamed at her;

"You truly are pathetic. Here I thought you could have been something special but deep down you're just another one of them: nothing. Obito killed you with only the powers of the Sharingan. I see no need to vex myself going beyond that if that's all it takes to be rid of you."

Konan noticed Madara's clone in limbo fleeing at great speed. She figured he must be planning some large scale attack that could threaten his own body as well as hers. She believed that his pride would obligate him to stick to his words and use only his Sharingan powers, though she was reluctant to bet on it. Her eyes were then drawn down as it was swallowed up by darkness. The realisation dawned on her as she looked up in dread. A huge meteor cut straight through the clouds directly above Konan. Sighing, she raised one hand toward the falling mass and muttered:

"Begone darkness."

The rock continued to descend at an alarming pace until it fully engulfed Konan in its dark embrace. Madara stopped laughing and watched intently. His enemy did not move, neither did any of her paper or chakra. She displayed no intention of escape, though such hopes were idiotic against such raw power. She remained steadfast in the face of what was certain death. So what is her plan, or what persisted in the back of his mind, what is her power?

Madara's eyes widened as his eyes picked up on her chakra spreading up through the meteor. What should have crushed the ant appeared to stop the moment it touched her fingertips. Instead, paper seemed to be peeling off from the bottom where Konan had touched. It started at the surface where it shed hundreds of sheets of paper a second while working its way up. Hundreds became thousands as the dispersion reached the core of the meteor and it was reduced to a hemisphere of rock being dissolved into paper. The sight grew pitiful as the remnants of the once huge meteor were turned into sheets of paper. It was at that moment that Madara caught of a glimpse of the true capacity of Konan's new power. Unafraid, the smallest signs of a smile appeared on his face. Through the gap created in the clouds, the light of the moon shone down over Konan, creating the silhouette of an angel.

"Perhaps this could be interesting after all." Madara rose in the air slowly. Blue flames appeared before him and enveloped him. These flames danced around him and took the form of his demonic looking perfect Susano'o. It towered at a mountainous height, almost rivalling the God Tree itself, with blades that were comprised entirely of the deadly blue flames. Acknowledging the monster that was summoned before her, Konan brought her hand forward toward Madara. As the meteor dwindled to nothing, millions of sheets of paper floated around Konan.

"Sacred Paper Goddess!" Konan's words echoed around the calm world before the rustling of flying paper drowned them out. Madara struggled to follow the vast amount of paper and decipher its movements, though he confirmed that it was building something behind her. Something equally giant as his own Susano'o. Sheets of paper joined and smoothed over to form a long, flowing kimono over what became a body. Two large horns sprouted from the top of figure. The Uchiha had an idea, which almost verged on a worry, of what the paper construct may be. As two white eyes and a third red eye, situated on the forehead, opened Madara's worry became a reality.

"K-Kaguya?!" He shouted out to Konan as a smirk formed upon her cheeks.


	3. Resilience

It was difficult to tell exactly when the paper moved, but as the swords of Madara's Susano'o swung for the paper Kaguya they cut through nothing but air. It retained no damage as the gaps made by his continued attacks quickly patched up. His power was not one to be mocked or humiliated in such a way. Growing more annoyed than enraged he raised both of the blades toward the sky, only to bring them crashing down again ferociously. The strike fell just short of hitting the final Akatsuki member's creation, though that was Madara's true plan. The giant blue infernos continued downward to hit Konan herself. The force behind the attack lodged the weapons into the Earth and covered the surrounding area in rubble, smoke and dust.

Madara's Susano'o remained perfectly still until the debris had cleared to a point of sufficient visibility. He continued pressing the swords down into the Earth regardless as the faux angel's chakra had not been snuffed out. He was met by some unexpected resistance as he noticed, underneath the blades, Konan had covered herself with her wings of paper and had actually managed to block his attack. How enough power coursed through those wings to withstand such a strike shocked the Uchiha. As she spread her wings it forced the blades away and sent a shockwave that succeeded in erasing the debris and staggering his Susano'o.

Gritting his teeth, Madara extinguished his Susano'o and retreated back. There was no point in pursuing that type of attack. It was clear that Konan's power was extraordinary and perhaps, just maybe, truly was the power of Kaguya. While his Rinnegan's Justu Absorption technique had proven ineffective when attempting to nullify the chakra in Konan's paper he thought to try something similar. Regardless of its effect, he deemed it a worthy attack capable of countering her Paper Goddess. Forming the hand seal of confrontation he yelled;

"Wood style: Wood dragon jutsu!"

Slamming the palms of his hands against the ground caused a forest of wooden tendrils to sprawl upward from the earth. As they entwined and joined they created the slender body of the multi-headed Wood Dragon. He grunted while straightening up as the dragon charged forward toward Konan. It slithered and writhed across the scarred land before rearing all but one of its heads up to face the colossal figure. That head crashed down at where Konan stood resulting in an explosion of paper. It then went and joined its counterparts and wrapped around her technique. Again the image of Kaguya did not move in the slightest. The dragon was already wrapped tightly around the giant, and began to constrict further as Madara clenched his fists. He detected no difference in Konan's chakra, despite the unique characteristics of the wood style.

However under the immense pressure presented by the crushing force of Madara's wooden dragon technique, Konan's Paper Goddess crumbled. The scraps of paper that once held together a mighty representation of Kaguya began to dislodge from the body and fall slowly through the air. Within mere seconds the entire structure had been reduced to its original state, and the dragon awaited its next order, or target. Madara had learned by now not to accept this as a victory, and that the devilish angel surely had another trick up her sleeve.

He was hardly surprised when he heard rustling behind him. He lazily checked to find Konan emerging from the centre of where nearby paper flown to. He had not even noticed the amount of paper around him, as the battlefield was littered in the stuff. It presented no worry to him though. The only thing was her persistence was beginning to get on his nerves. The girl floated in the air, her form left deliberately incomplete as the start of her arms ended in loose parts of paper, and neither her legs nor the bottom of her cloak had been made. He turned to meet her gaze, his eyes shone with contained rage while her own were cold.

One of Konan's arms materialised, ending in an open hand held out to her foe. "I will not allow you to blanket this world in darkness and blot out the light of its future! Stop now Madara, before it is too late."

"I am too close…" His voice began quiet, but picked up rapidly as his anger got out of hand. "I am too close. I am too close! Look at the power I have obtained! Soon it shall all be in my hand. The world, everyone and everything in it, will be mine! All that stands before me is one insignificant weed that refuses to die!"

His dragon made for the two under his unspoken command. He would finish the angel this time. Though within him, the legendary Uchiha could not shake off a sense of dread, as if something were off. The unfinished Konan kept her place in the air, showing no signs of moving as before. Looking into her blank eyes gave Madara no clues, only a feeling of sadness. The dragon was upon them and he was now filled with dread, like it was actually unresponsive to his will, or worse, moving against it. At the last moment he glanced back only to see the open maw and fangs of his wooden dragon closing in on him. His eyes widened due to an emotion he had almost forgotten, fear. It was the same grand dragon, though with one unavoidable difference: its surface was white, covered in paper.


End file.
